And, when the draw for this group was made, most would have settled for being still in contention travelling to Cardiff for a showdown with Wales.

That was based on the assumption that Austria would be more like the side we saw in the Euro 2016 qualifiers than the finals themselves.

That has not been the case and we have only ourselves to blame that it is not a winner-takes-all contest but rather a winner-will-get-a-play-off-if-other-results-go-our-way affair.

Unless Georgia beat Serbia in Belgrade, in which case we could top the group. Be still my beating heart.

If Ireland do not beat Wales, then we can all look back over the campaign and pinpoint where things went wrong and question the wisdom in asking O’Neill to stay on for another two years when our fate was still unclear.

O’Neill can, with some justification, point to the horrific injury to Séamus Coleman as when things started to go awry.

But that does not tell the whole story, with much of the damage self-inflicted.

Still, having gotten themselves into a mess, there is one last chance to extricate themselves from it and if they beat Wales in their own backyard, they will have deserved a top-two finish, whatever that ultimately brings. It will be a considerably more difficult challenge than this one.

But the absence of Gareth Bale provides a glimmer of hope, while the returns from suspension of Robbie Brady and James McClean will mean increased options for O’Neill.

Ireland will more than likely need them because the two heroes from last night, Daryl Murphy and Wes Hoolahan, may not be up to starting again.

Murphy’s Ireland debut came way back in 2007 but it is fair to say that his international career has been a slow-burner.

He went six years without a cap before improved fortunes at club level and an accompanying decline in alternative options saw him once more required.

While the Waterford man is not the sort of striker who can be judged only on his goals — his rough-housing of defenders must also be taken into account — the absence of one from his first 18 caps was an issue.

That wait was ended against Serbia in the opening match of this campaign but an injury-disrupted first season at Newcastle United curtailed him from featuring again until the game against Austria in June.

Shane Long had a difficult night before being replaced by Sean Maguire

A summer move to Nottingham Forest — where he has netted six times in 10 Championship starts — has revived him and, like ­Hoolahan, his best work for his country is being done in the ­twilight years of his career.

It is just a shame that his strike partner Long is not in comparable form.

After firing off-target with his first chance, he had a second saved by keeper Ilie Cebanu.

And the fact that he tried — but failed — to pick out a colleague when he found himself in a good position for a third time showed his lack of confidence.

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